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#BookReview & #Excerpt: BETWEEN THE BLADE AND THE HEART by Amanda Hocking + #Giveaway

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Star rating:

Valkyries have one great responsibility: to return immortals to the afterlife by slaying them. As a Valkyrie, Malin has always known that the balance of the world rests on her ability to carry out orders. But when Malin discovers that her mother spared the life of an immortal who was destined to die, her world is thrown into chaos.

Malin not only wrestles with the knowledge that her mother might not be who she thought—she’s also thrust into the path of a gorgeous blue eyed guy named Asher who needs her help slaying the rogue immortal who destroyed his family. The balance of the world is at stake. And, as Asher competes with Malin’s ex for her love and loyalty, so is her heart.

It was a strange, cold thing to realize I was born to be a murderer.

Fun fact. Krigare is the Swedish word for “warrior”. And that’s who we’re introduced to. Or at least, that’s what Malin, a Valkyrie-in-training is going for. Her life is a mix of learning to “return” the immortal as per instructions from a higher power and attending a special college for those working in the paranormal sector. That is, until she learns her mother went off track years before, creating a domino effect of misfortune.

The characters were an interesting mix. I liked Malin for her spunk, but I also felt sorry for her because she’d been dealt a bad card in terms of parents. I mean, her mom wasn’t exactly maternal, was she? She was pretty cold, selfish, and intolerant of people. On the other hand, Malin’s best friend and roommate was both really thoughtful and pretty sassy, exactly how a friend should be. But honestly, there were way too many characters with strange names thrown in, so it was difficult for me to keep track of who was who, and who was important.

Let’s take a moment to celebrate some more bi rep! Yup, that’s right. Malin is bi. Now, I can’t speak for the accuracy of the representation, but I was excited when it hit me that Malin has an ex-girlfriend, one she is still not quite over. Then there’s Asher, who’s so steady and caring. She also had a casual FWB relationship going on with a guy at the start. I liked this modern attitude towards relationship being included.

The atmosphere of the book is grungy, set in alleys, bars, and neon-lit streets. Creatures lurk in the shadows and canals. Everyone seems to be tattooed or have piercings, even the “good girls” having an edge to them. Under all the rust, there’s almost a steampunk futuristic feel to the world, with hoverbikes and electronic business cards. Mixed in with all the normal world is the mythological, with mortal and immortal coexisting in an uneasy balance.

WolpertingerAs the book centres around a Valkyrie, I expected to just encounter Norse mythology, but cultures from all over the world were represented, such as the pontianaks of Indonesian and Malaysian nightmares, the spirits of women who have died while pregnant and lure their victims with the cry of a baby before gorging on their entrails. (Yeah, I know. Pleasant, right?) While I liked that there was diversity in the myths given life, it was almost too much; names were thrown in without explanation at times, breaking my flow while I googled a term. Actually, I quickly remembered that I could quickly check something on Wikipedia straight from my Kindle, which I have never needed to do so often before. It’s like nothing could be normal, not even the pets. (That being said, Bavarian wolpertingers sound pretty cute.)

Thinking about it, there was maybe too much detail about the living world and not enough about the physical. I couldn’t place anything because real locations were referred to as if they were a short drive away when, in actuality, they were thousands of miles apart. I had no idea where Malin actually was since beings from all over the world were present in her city, and her “assignments”, despite being in different countries and across oceans, were talked about as nearby. One was in Japan, another in Australia…not exactly walking distance. It was only towards the end that I deduced she was somewhere in the US? I think?

All the detail slowed down the plot initially, but it picked up around the halfway point. From then on, Malin both showed her capacity to kick ass and get muddled up in feelings. I mean, she’s only 19, so can we really expect her to think rationally and make the best choices? Nope. Anyway, as the pace picked up and the information dumped on us at the start settled down, things got more exciting and twisted and really so much bigger than anyone thought. I’m looking forward to book 2!

Rating breakdown

Plot

Characters

World-building

Pacing

Writing

Cover

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Chapter 1

The air reeked of fermented fish and rotten fruit, thanks to the overflowing dumpster from the restaurant behind us. The polluted alley felt narrow and claustrophobic, sandwiched between skyscrapers.

In the city, it was never quiet or peaceful, even at three in the morning. There were more than thirty million humans and supernatural beings coexisting, living on top of each other. It was the only life I’d ever really known, but the noise of the congestion grated on me tonight.

My eyes were locked on the flickering neon lights of the gambling parlor across the street. The u in Shibuya had gone out, so the sign flashed SHIB YA at me.

The sword sheathed at my side felt heavy, and my body felt restless and electric. I couldn’t keep from fidgeting and cracked my knuckles.

“He’ll be here soon,” my mother, Marlow, assured me. She leaned back against the brick wall beside me, casually eating large jackfruit seeds from a brown paper sack. Always bring a snack on a stakeout was one of her first lessons, but I was far too nervous and excited to eat.

The thick cowl of her frayed black sweater had been pulled up like a hood, covering her cropped blond hair from the icy mist that fell on us. Her tall leather boots only went to her calf, thanks to her long legs. Her style tended to be monochromatic—black on black on black—aside from the shock of dark red lipstick.

My mother was only a few years shy of her fiftieth birthday, with almost thirty years of experience working as a Valkyrie, and she was still as strong and vital as ever. On her hip, her sword Mördare glowed a dull red through its sheath.

The sword of the Valkyries was one that appeared as if it had been broken in half—its blade only a foot long before stopping at a sharp angle. Mördare’s blade was several thousand years old, forged in fires to look like red glass that would glow when the time was nigh.

My sword was called Sigrún, a present on my eighteenth birthday from Marlow. It was a bit shorter than Mördare, with a thicker blade, so it appeared stubby and fat. The handle was black utilitarian, a replacement that my mom had had custom-­made from an army supply store, to match her own.

The ancient blade appeared almost black, but as it grew closer to its target, it would glow a vibrant purple. For the past hour that we’d been waiting on our stakeout, Sigrún had been glowing dully on my hip.

The mist grew heavier, soaking my long black hair. I kept the left side of my head shaved, parting my hair over to the right, and my scalp should’ve been freezing from the cold, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t feel anything.

It had begun—the instinct of the Valkyrie, pushing aside my humanity to become a weapon. When the Valkyrie in me took over, I was little more than a scythe for the Grim Reaper of the gods.

“He’s coming,” Marlow said behind me, but I already knew.

The world fell into hyperfocus, and I could see every droplet of rain as it splashed toward the ground. Every sound echoed through me, from the bird flapping its wings a block away, to the club door as it groaned open.

Eleazar Bélanger stumbled out, his heavy feet clomping in the puddles. He was chubby and short, barely over four feet tall, and he would’ve appeared to be an average middle-­aged man if it wasn’t for the two knobby horns that stuck out on either side of his forehead. Graying tufts of black hair stuck out from under a bright red cap, and as he walked ahead, he had a noticeable limp favoring his right leg.

He was a Trasgu, a troublemaking goblin, and his appearance belied the strength and cunning that lurked within him. He was over three hundred years old, and today would be the day he died.

I waited in the shadows of the alley for him to cross the street. A coughing fit caused him to double over, and he braced himself against the brick wall.

I approached him quietly—this all went easier when they didn’t have time to prepare. He took off his hat to use it to wipe the snot from his nose, and when he looked up at me, his green eyes flashed with understanding.

“It’s you,” Eleazar said in a weak, craggy voice. We’d never met, and I doubt he’d ever seen me before, but he recognized me, the way they all did when their time was up.

“Eleazar Bélanger, you have been chosen to die,” I said, reciting my script, the words automatic and cold on my lips. “It is my duty to return you to the darkness from whence you came.”

“No, wait!” He held up his pudgy hands at me. “I have money. I can pay you. We can work this out.”

“This is not my decision to make,” I said as I pulled the sword from my sheath.

His eyes widened as he realized I couldn’t be bargained with. For a moment I thought he might just accept his fate, but they rarely did. He bowed his head and ran at me like a goat. He was stronger than he looked and caused me to stumble back a step, but he didn’t have anywhere to go.

My mother stood blocking the mouth of the alley, in case I needed her. Eleazar tried to run toward the other end, but his leg slowed him, and I easily overtook him. Using the handle of my sword, I cracked him on the back of the skull, and he fell to the ground on his knees.

Sigrún glowed brightly, with light shining out from it and causing the air to glow purple around us. Eleazar mumbled a prayer to the Vanir gods. I held the sword with both hands, and I struck it across his neck, decapitating him.

And then, finally, the electricity that had filled my body, making my muscles quiver and my bones ache, left me, and I breathed in deeply. The corpse of an immortal goblin lay in a puddle at my feet, and I felt nothing but relief.

“It was a good return,” my mother said, and put her hand on my shoulder. “You did well, Malin.”

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